"I've been fascinated by your five-year plan for the last fifteen years"
- Melvyn Douglas to Greta Garbo, Ninotchka (1939)

Cricket's home moves closer to the money
(Raja M/Asia Times, 22.4.05)

"The ICC cannot afford to pay 30% tax..."
- Inderjit Singh Bindra

Why the ICC moved to a tax haven, in the words of the man who wants to get the BCCI listed on the Indian stock market.

A remarkable story that I was unaware of until today. April 22, 1959, and the acclaimed ballet dancer Margot Fonteyn is detained in a Panama City lock-up for 24 hours while her husband is on the run attempting a coup against the Panamanian government.

BBC Online's On This Day section picks up the story.

Legends kickstart Bradman Foundation
(Times of India, 21.4.05)

More on the Bradman Foundation's expansion into Indian terrain. A "Legends" ODI triseries involving India, Australia and a third team. In August. While the Ashes are on.

To quote from the TOI item:

"The tournament will give Indians an opportunity to see players like Greg Chappell, Richie Benaud, Merv Hughes and Dean Jones take on Indian greats," [Bradman Foundation director Richard] Mulvaney said.

Future test cricketers on show: Bangladesh tour Oz
(Scott Lamond/ABC Online, 22.4.05)

ABC Local Radio at Wide Bay in Central Queensland has done a feature on the touring Bangladesh Under-19 team which is currently in town playing a Queensland Academy of Sport selection. They seem to be having quite a successful tour of Australia at the moment.

New coach will stay on till 2007 World Cup, says Nair
(Sajith Balakrishnan/Thatscricket.com, 21.4.05)

Interview with BCCI secretary and Kerala Cricket Association president SK Nair, which demonstrates all the drive, dynamism and transparency that has made the Board the role model for state-of-the-arts sports administration that it is today...

Whatmore a wanted man as BBC come calling
(Simon Briggs/Daily Telegraph, 21.4.05)

Dav Whatmore has just extended his contract to coach the Bangladesh team. When he's not busy doing that, he'll be doing commentary for BBC Radio on England's Tests against... um, Bangladesh...

The Bradman name is brutally protected from commercial exploitation in Australia. So how is it that the Bradman estate's exclusive agent - the Bradman Foundation - is flogging biscuits invoking The Don's name as its brand?

The Roman Catholic Church has a new Pope, and I have revamped my cricket blog yet again. It's now being done in Wordpress, same as this. I promise it will be different. I can't promise it will be interesting, though I try. I can't promise I will update it often, and I can't promise that I will try. All of which fails to explain why I have done four entries so far today, two of them being commentaries on Powerpoint demonstrations.

That link again (except that I didn't give it to you before): http://cricket.rickeyre.com/blog/.

Each week (or whenever I remember to do so, which will probably be three or four times a year), I'll link to the latest cricket-related items on The Bladder. Alas, you're unlikely to see anything new from Lumpy Stevens (currently 461st in their list of all-time most popular contributors) in the foreseeable future.